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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nOver the weekend, I was talking to my seven-year-old\nson, Becket. He said to me, \u201cDad, I told\nmy friends at school that I\u2019m not a sports guy, I\u2019m a church guy.\u201d A church guy \u2026 \nThis got me thinking \u2026 if we were to sum up who we are in a few words to\nour friends or closest loved ones, what would those few words be? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a clue as to how we would sum up who we are, maybe we can look at our Instagram bio or how in other ways we tell people who we are. Many of us sum up who we are by telling others about where we go to college, our major, our career, the political party we identify with, where we\u2019re from, or maybe even what sport we play. Others of us may have a harder time summing up who we are in a few words because we have slasher tendencies. If you haven\u2019t heard of slashers, we\u2019re the ones working multiple jobs. For instance, someone might say they are a pharmacist (slash) DJ (slash) landlord (slash) writer. These ways of summing ourselves up may sound nice, but to Jesus\u2019 ears, I wonder if it sounds like we\u2019re suffering from an identity crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In today\u2019s second reading, St. Paul\nreminds us of our true identity when he tells us \u201cwe are ambassadors for\nChrist.\u201d Lent is a time for us to shed\nall those other ways we identify ourselves and let our true identity as\nambassadors for Christ shine through to all those we encounter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lent is a time for us to re-prioritize the spiritual part of our lives, the part of our lives that will live on when everything else that we spend so much time holding onto will ultimately pass away. That is why we begin our Lent today by having ashes put on our foreheads as we hear these words: \u201cRemember that you are dust, and to dust, you shall return.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These words are very similar to the words God spoke\nto Adam in the Garden of Eden after Adam sinned, to let Adam know of his own mortality. These are not just meant to be morbid words\nthat make us dwell on our death and be depressed by it. No, instead, these words, which are said as\nthe sign of the cross is put on our forehead, are meant to remind us of the\ngift of life that God has given us through his son, Jesus. This Jesus died on the cross for each of our\nsins so we could have life and have it more abundantly. Put another way, Jesus died on the cross for\neach of us, because he cares about our happiness. Jesus cares about our happiness in our life\nafter death as well as in our life before death. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For many of\nus, hearing this message of life and happiness might seem in stark contrast to\nwhat we feel as we begin 40 days of self-denial during Lent. But in today\u2019s Gospel\nreading, Jesus tells us not to look gloomy when we fast. As we fast today on Ash Wednesday and on\nFridays during Lent, we may hear Jesus\u2019 message of not looking gloomy when we\nfast and say to ourselves, \u201cokay, I get it. \nJesus tells us not to look gloomy when we fast so God will then repay us.\u201d Many of us hear about God repaying us and\nthink Jesus is just talking about God repaying us with eternal happiness in\nheaven in our lives after death. While,\nyes, we hold onto this hope for happiness in our lives after death, we also\nlive in a very secular culture that only cares about happiness in life before\ndeath. So, what about our lives before\ndeath?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I told you at the beginning of our 40 days of self-denial during Lent that Jesus and his church actually also care about our happiness in our lives before death, would you believe me? It\u2019s true and there\u2019s actually a science to back up this claim that some self-denial can actually make us happier than living by the eat, drink and be merry message our secular culture is constantly trying to sell us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s start with an example. One of the most popular pleasures people give up during Lent is chocolate. Well, about seven years ago, college students at the University of British Columbia underwent a two-session experiment. These college students were put into three different groups. The students in the first group were each given 2 pounds of chocolate and were told they should eat as much of the chocolate as they comfortably could and to come back in a week. The second group wasn\u2019t given any instructions other than to come back in a week. The third group of students were told not to eat any chocolate and to come back in a week. All three groups of students followed the instructions they were given and came back a week later for the second session of the experiment. In this second session, the students in all three groups were each given some chocolate to eat and were then asked to rate their happiness. Which students do you think rated their happiness the highest? \u2026 That\u2019s right the students who denied themselves eating any chocolate for a week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether we are fasting, abstaining from chocolate, meat, or something else, Jesus tells us not to look gloomy. That\u2019s because we ambassadors for Christ have as our Lord and Savior someone who cares deeply about our long-term happiness. When fast we actually begin to savor the daily pleasures of life here and now that we often lose sight of when we are so focused on those unhealthy attachments we have been clinging onto. Our ability to practice some self-denial also improves our well-being as we become people who are in charge of our feelings instead of being at the mercy of our feelings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, this Lent, if one of our friends or family members asks us why we are denying ourselves chocolate, meat, or some other pleasure, one response we can give them is \u201cto be happier.\u201d This may get their attention and cause their curiosity to know more about how our self-denial of pleasure can make us happier. This then is a God-given opportunity to let our true identity as an ambassador for Christ shine through. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
God-willing, we each will have many opportunities to be ambassadors for Christ like this throughout our lives here on this earth. And then, as the ashes on our foreheads today remind us, there will come a time for us to take our final breath. When we take our final breath and we meet Jesus face-to-face, let us think about what our first words will be to Jesus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we come face-to-face with Jesus and we speak our first words to him, may we have shed all those other ways we all too often have been tempted to identify ourselves. Let us instead speak of something that truly matters in the end. Let us speak of our true identity. In that moment, let our first words to our friend Jesus be \u201cI am an ambassador for Christ\u201d \u2026 or as my son, Becket put it when he spoke to his friends, \u201cI\u2019m a church guy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ash Wednesday in Lent Cycle A \u2013 February 26, 2020<\/strong> Over the weekend, I was talking to my seven-year-old son, Becket. He said to me, \u201cDad, I told my friends at school that I\u2019m not a sports guy, I\u2019m a church guy.\u201d A church guy \u2026 This got me thinking \u2026 if we were to sum up who we are in a few words … <\/p>\n
Mass Readings:<\/em>
Reading 1:\u00a0<\/em>Jl 2:12-18<\/a>
Psalm:<\/em>\u00a051:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17<\/a>
Reading 2:\u00a0<\/em>2 Cor 5:20\u20146:2<\/a>
Gospel:\u00a0<\/em>Mt 6:1-6, 16-18<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"